The Best and Brightest of Student Art

COCC partners with regional art teachers to showcase student work

Right now, the Pence Pinckney Gallery at Central Oregon Community College is filled to the brim with bright inspiration and hope. This time, every year, you can find some of the best and most wonderful art from teenagers in the community bursting along the walls and filling every nook.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of COCC partnering with regional art teachers to showcase excellence in student artwork. The Central Oregon Scholastic Art Awards is an affiliate of the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, honoring the artistic works of teenagers since 1923. It's the longest running arts recognition program in the country.

The work is expansive, from drawings to pantings to sculpture to photography. There's even some fashion in there! The work showcases the best from over 800 submissions from 21 middle and high schools in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The goal is to showcase excellence in the visual and literary arts.

Judging of the awards is done on a "blind adjudication" process, allowing the students' identities to remain anonymous, and judges' choices of work to be based solely on the excellence of the artist's craft. This exhibition is a welcome showcase that highlights the talents of our local teenage artists as well as highlighting subjects and content close to their hearts at this moment in time. As most artists know, when times seem filled with strife, so can art. These works remain hopeful and insightful and showcase the growing talent in Central Oregon—and the teachers who help students get there.